Connect with us

Tour News

These 6 players are key to their team’s success at the Presidents Cup

Published

on

The 11th Presidents Cup will be played in Inchon City, Korea, at the Jack Nicklaus Golf Club Korea beginning Thursday, Oct. 8. The United States Team has been victorious in these matches eight out of 10 times against the International Team, with its only loss coming in 1998 when the Americans were handily defeated 20.5 to 11.5. The 2003 Cup ended in a 17-all tie.

While Jordan Spieth (U.S.) and Jason Day (International) are expected to be significant contributors to their respective teams, there are other key players. Here are three key players from each team whose play will likely affect the outcome of the 2015 Presidents Cup.

U.S. Team

Phil Mickelson: After finishing 30th on the points list for this year’s Presidents Cup, Lefty was taken as a captain’s pick by U.S. captain Jay Haas. No player that low on the points list has ever been selected by either team in the Presidents Cup. Lauded for his so-called intangibles and experience, Mickelson’s impact will inevitably depend on how he actually plays in this year’s matches. He will, however, need to win points to justify being selected, given Mickelson has just four top-10 finishes in his past 39 worldwide starts.

Bill Haas: Haas did not earn his spot based on points either, but rather was selected as a captain’s pick. Unlike Lefty, Haas was in the thick of things as the cut-off for the U.S. Presidents Cup squad approached this past September, but finished 11th in total points. He is a key this week because while arguably deserving of a pick, Haas is also U.S. captain Jay Haas’ son; a fact which will only add to the overall pressure of being a captain’s pick at this year’s Presidents Cup.

Patrick Reed: Already known and considered a match-play heavyweight after his success in college (Augusta State) and at the 2014 Ryder Cup, Reed failed to seriously contend for most of the 2014-2015 season. He will likely be seen as an integral part of the U.S Team for his ability to win points and potentially pair with this season’s PGA Tour Player of the Year, Jordan Spieth. A less-than-successful Presidents Cup for Reed may ultimately spell disaster for the entire U.S. Team.

International Team

adam scott

Adam Scott: As de facto leader of the International Team, Scott will be asked to not only lead by example, but along with Jason Day, with his golf clubs. Scott had a disappointing year on the PGA Tour in 2015, finishing 106th in the FedExCup with just three (3) top-10 finishes. Scott is already making news this week in Korea as he was seen on Monday using a standard-length putter. Long putter or not, Scott needs to win points for the International Team to have a chance.

Sang Moon Bae: On the cusp of beginning required military service, Bae is playing in his home country of South Korea for this year’s Presidents Cup. International Team captain Nick Price noted that Bae was being selected as a captain’s pick, given his recent and repeated success at this golf course in winning the 2013 and 2014 Shinhan Donghae Open on the Korean Tour. Bae will need similar success to secure much needed points for the International Team this year.

Danny Lee: Arguably the hottest player, apart from Jason Day on the International Team, Lee finished T2 at the Tour Championship and ninth in the final FedExCup rankings. Lee is also playing for country in the same manner as Bae, having been born in South Korea before moving to New Zealand. With the likes of Charl Schwartzel battling illness and Louis Oosthuizen fighting injury, Lee will need to play his best golf to make this year’s Presidents Cup competitive.

Your Reaction?
  • 28
  • LEGIT3
  • WOW0
  • LOL1
  • IDHT0
  • FLOP1
  • OB1
  • SHANK4

We share your golf passion. You can follow GolfWRX on Twitter @GolfWRX, Facebook and Instagram.

6 Comments

6 Comments

  1. Jake Anderson

    Oct 7, 2015 at 3:54 am

    i think it is ok that haas picked haas, because the latter was 11th on the points list. otherwise, he should not have been chosen.

  2. FF2

    Oct 7, 2015 at 12:11 am

    Just because it’s “Asia” (since when has Australia been a part of Asia, beats me they’re so far down under should they even allowed in Asia?), Bowditch gets the call. Silly. Non-Europeans are now “Internationals.” So sad. Why not another, real Asian like Kiradech, or Wen-Chong Liang. This Aussie-centric team will get blasted off the map by the US team, yet again. Why don’t they have another match-play even like this where it’s Australia versus US or Europe or Internationals? What about South Africans versus the same? Not enough time on the calendar? Surely they all make enough money that the prestige of these events can be raised. Otherwise, all these events should just go away.

    • Nathan

      Oct 7, 2015 at 6:22 am

      Unfortunately buddy, us australians have been part of asia for quite some time now.

  3. b-wall

    Oct 6, 2015 at 6:58 pm

    So sick of hearing about Mickelson’s intangibles:

    Presidents Cup record 18-14-10 , nothing special
    Ryder Cup record 16-19-6 , sad

    Was on the losing side of the Ryder cup 8 out of 10 tries , pathetic

    Might want to let some of the young blood have a shot to see if they can do better.

    • prime21

      Oct 6, 2015 at 7:41 pm

      Bingo! When you’re right, you’re right. The more experience the new bloods get the better off the future US teams will be. ESPECIALLY in the Prez Cup.

  4. The dude

    Oct 6, 2015 at 6:26 pm

    And the other 6….not so much….ha

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Tour Photo Galleries

Photos from the 2024 RBC Heritage

Published

on

GolfWRX is on site this week at Harbour Town Golf Links on Hilton Head Island for the RBC Heritage. Plenty of golfers who competed in the Masters last week will be making the quick turnaround in the Lowcountry of South Carolina as the Heritage is again one of the Tour’s Signature Events.

We have general albums for you to check out, as well as plenty of WITBs — including Justin Thomas and Justin Rose.

We’ll continue to update as more photos flow in from SC.

Check out links to all our photos, below.

General Albums

WITB Albums

Pullout Albums

See what GolfWRXers are saying and join the discussion in the forums.

Your Reaction?
  • 9
  • LEGIT0
  • WOW0
  • LOL2
  • IDHT0
  • FLOP1
  • OB0
  • SHANK0

Continue Reading

Tour Photo Galleries

Photos from the 2024 Valero Texas Open

Published

on

GolfWRX is on site this week at the Valero Texas Open.

The event has been around since 1922, making it one of the oldest on the PGA Tour calendar. Over the years, it’s been held at a variety of courses across the Lone Star State, but it’s found its home at TPC San Antonio in recent years. Some of the biggest names in golf have taken home the title here, including Arnold Palmer, Ben Hogan, Lee Trevino, and Ben Crenshaw.

GolfWRX has its usual assortment of general galleries, WITBs and special pull-out albums. As always, we’ll continue to update the links below as more photos come in from TPC San Antonio.

General Albums

WITB Albums

Pullout Albums

See what GolfWRXers are saying in the forums

Your Reaction?
  • 16
  • LEGIT3
  • WOW6
  • LOL2
  • IDHT0
  • FLOP0
  • OB0
  • SHANK0

Continue Reading

Tour Photo Galleries

Photos from the 2024 Texas Children’s Houston Open

Published

on

GolfWRX is on site in the Lone Star State this week for the Texas Children’s Houston Open.

General galleries from the putting green and range, WITBs — including Thorbjorn Olesen and Zac Blair — and several pull-out albums await.

As always, we’ll continue to update as more photos flow in. Check out links to all our photos from Houston below.

General Albums

WITB Albums

Pullout Albums

See what GolfWRXers are saying in the forums.

Your Reaction?
  • 19
  • LEGIT5
  • WOW2
  • LOL4
  • IDHT0
  • FLOP1
  • OB0
  • SHANK0

Continue Reading

WITB

Facebook

Trending